LineofDuty (13 page)

The light had faded so much she couldn’t make out much of
his expression.

“I guess I’ll take your silence as a no.” She pushed off the
truck and turned toward the parking lot.

“Wait.” He grabbed her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. “I
got paranoid—”

His phone buzzed, blaring a siren call to duty. She sighed,
somewhat placated with the answer. Cops were always seeing threats in the
shadows, bad guys under beds. It’s what made them such great protectors, but
also paranoid.

He slipped the phone from his pocket.

“Answer it.” She tucked her purse under her arm. “Come home
to me after, okay?”

He nodded even as he answered the line. “Vant.”

She circled to her car and climbed in the driver’s seat.
Jake was already in his truck, easing out of the tight spot. She said a silent
prayer for his safety and watched him leave the lot.

Nicole fished her phone out of her purse and followed her husband’s
path, but turned the opposite direction.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Tanya’s voice blossomed on the
other end of the line.

“Confused. Hungry. In need of a really good glass of wine.”

“I hear you. Cole just flew out of here.”

“Yeah, Jake just left. Want to come over?” Jake had left
that nice bottle of wine at her place. It was his own fault if he wasn’t around
to drink it.

“Wait, Jake just left?”

“Well, we were together at happy hour and he just left.” It
was a broad interpretation of the truth, but it would do for now.

“I have to come over and you need to fill me in.”

Nicole laughed. “Sure. I could probably use a third-party
opinion anyways.”

“I’m totally biased, you know?”

“I am more than okay with that.”

“Okay, I’ll get a pizza and see you in a few.”

Nicole ended the call and tossed the phone on the seat next
to her. She should probably have suggested going over to Tanya’s since she had
more in the line of furniture, but the decision was made.

She zipped home and parked in her own garage. This little white
house felt more like a home than the other house ever had. Would Jake consider
moving back here? They hadn’t had much luck at the brick house and all their
happier memories were here. She gathered her things and entered the house,
considering where all the new furniture they’d bought after their move could
fit. She might have to sell it and start over again, which wasn’t a bad idea
considering all the bad memories it brought with it.

A week ago if she’d been told by her future self that she
would be ready to move back in with her husband she’d have laughed herself
silly. But even if Jake was pulling the wool over her eyes, it was she who
couldn’t walk away. She still loved him.

Nicole set her things down on the kitchen counter and got
the wine out of the fridge. Tanya would just have to play catch-up because she
wasn’t waiting on her.

She popped the cork and poured a liberal amount into a red
plastic cup and drank deeply of the contents. The wine hit the back of her
mouth and she shook her head. She grabbed the bottle and reread the label. It
was the wine she’d thought it was, but the bitter aftertaste was rather strong.
Maybe it was a bad bottle?

She took another sip, rolling the liquid around on her
tongue. It wasn’t all that bad when she was expecting the bitterness. She
shrugged and decided it wasn’t worth tossing out.

Nicole continued to sip the wine as she put her things away
and fluffed the clothes Jake had left in the dryer. She stood and the room
tipped sideways, spinning. Her stomach clenched and she stumbled against the
wall.

What was going on?

Was she having a reaction to bad wine?

Her pulse raced and she leaned against the dryer just to
stay upright. Except her extremities were awfully tingly. She tried to lift her
arm to push her hair out of her face, except it might as well have been cast in
concrete.

Something wasn’t right. A bad glass of wine shouldn’t do
this.

Jake’s paranoia slammed her full in the chest.

What if it wasn’t just a paranoid delusion this time?

She pitched forward, hitting her shoulder against the
doorway, and clung to it as best as she could to remain upright.

Her phone. She needed her cell phone. But where was it?

She blinked at the empty house and tried to muddle through
her sluggish thoughts to where her phone might still be.

Her purse? Had she put it back in after talking to Tanya?

The black clutch she’d carried today sat ten feet away on
the counter. She couldn’t make that distance. Even now the room seemed to be
fading in and out. But she had to try.

Nicole focused on the end of the counter, only a few feet
away. Her knees were trying to buckle just standing here. Could she crawl to
her purse?

It would be so much easier to just sit down. Would Jake find
her if she stayed where she was?

No.

She shook her head and threw her weight forward, but her
feet wouldn’t cooperate. She stumbled once and went to a knee.

Her stomach was starting to churn and sweat beaded her brow.

She pushed up, gripping the edge of a drawer and pulled
herself halfway up, but her fingers slipped and she collapsed, too tired to
move. It was easier to lie there.

Why did she need her phone? What she really needed was a
nap. Except there was a nagging thought she couldn’t get rid of. Something that
made her think her phone was really important.

A figure stepped into her limited vision and knelt, his face
coming into focus.

That was not Jake in her house. Her heart raced and she
tried to lift her hand to push him away, but it was too heavy.

“I didn’t expect you to drink the wine,” he said.

Her tongue was too thick in her mouth to form real words.
She whimpered. Something about the heavy brow brought back memories but she
would have remembered a face as scarred as his.

He pulled a bandanna from his pocket and wrapped it around
her mouth, muting her helpless sounds. She wanted to get up and kick his ass.
Where was Jake?

He taped her wrists and ankles to each other. She clung to
consciousness by sheer will and the adrenaline leant to her by fear.

“Stop fighting it.” He pushed her hair out of her face, but
there was no kindness in his eye behind the gesture.

He picked her up and placed her on top of—something. She
couldn’t see it.

The unmistakable sound of a zipper sealed her fate.

Diego zipped up the duffle bag and waited. The woman didn’t
struggle, but then she’d drunk enough of the tranquilizer to knock out someone
four times her size. Satisfied she was out, he went to the laundry room and
opened the dryer. Clothes rolled round and round as it stopped tumbling. He
grabbed a few items at random, one of which was one of Vant’s police-issue
shirts.

“Perfect,” he mumbled and pulled it on over his clothes.

In the dark the neighbors would only see Jake Vant moving
out of his house. They wouldn’t see Diego Cruz stealing away with the wife.

Just a few more days.

* * * * *

Tanya knocked on the blue door, her stomach rumbling as the
smell of pizza wrapped around her.

“Hey, Nicole, it’s me.” She knocked on the door again but
there was no sound from inside the house.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Nicole on the off chance
she’d beaten the other woman home. The phone rang—and an answering chime
sounded from inside. That didn’t sound right.

Tanya grabbed the doorknob and twisted. The door swung
inward and all her warning bells went off. She slipped her phone into her pocket
and pulled the stun gun she carried out of her purse. At nine million volts, it
was a good enough shock to make someone think twice about coming after her.

She stepped into the house, where all the lights were on,
and glanced around for some sign of Nicole. She glimpsed her purse and bags on
the counter, but no Nicole.

Tanya set the pizza on a tray table near the front door and
edged into the house.

“Nicole?” she called.

No sound.

“Nicole, it’s Tanya.”

The hair on the back of her neck rose. Something was really
wrong here.

She pulled her phone back out and dialed her emergency
contact. The line rang once.

“O’Neil.”

“Hi, this is Tanya Westling.”

“Hello, Mrs. Westling. Cole’s—”

“I know where Cole is, I’m not calling about him.” Her voice
rose as she edged into the kitchen. “I’m at Jake and Nicole Vant’s old house. I
was bringing a pizza over and she’s gone. All her things are here, there’s an
open bottle of wine, but she’s not here. Something’s wrong.”

“Calm down. Maybe she’s in the bathroom?” His tone was
patient but it was clear she was not the focus of his attention.

She edged into the master suite but the bathroom lights were
off.

“No, she’s not there either.”

“Did she go to the store?”

“Her keys are on the counter.”

“Okay,” he spoke in a brisk tone, the humoring her quality
gone. This was all business. “I’m going to send a patrol car over. Will you go
back out to your car and lock the doors?”

“Yeah.”

“Keep me on the phone.”

She heard him giving orders to people around them. She made
it all the way back to her car without incident. But where was Nicole?

“Hold tight, Mrs. Westling. We’ll have someone there in a
minute.”

“I think we’re too late,” she said.

* * * * *

Jake took off his helmet, watching a patrol car with their
bad guy turn out of the subdivision. Two-hour-long barricaded-person situation
with no one hurt. It wasn’t a bad end to the evening, though it could have been
better.

“Westling, Vant, see me now,” O’Neil said over their comms,
his words clipped.

Jake glanced at Cole and shrugged. They’d gone by the book,
so he couldn’t think of anything they might have done wrong.

Aaron pulled his com out of his ear. “Someone’s about to get
a new asshole.”

“Fuck you, Griffith,” Cole shot back.

“Come on, girls. I’m ready to get home.” To his wife. Who
might actually look forward to seeing him.

Jake rode in Cole’s SUV with the others back to the makeshift
staging area several streets over. They didn’t roll out the mobile command
center for just any operation. Besides there was nowhere to park the massive
vehicle here, so they made do with a van.

O’Neil and two suits that appeared to be internal affairs
stood next to the van, gazes trained on their truck.

“What’s this about?” Cole muttered.

Jake didn’t like it. He racked his brain for some
infringement, any time they’d stepped out of line, but he couldn’t think of
anything.

“I’ll say a prayer for your soul, boys.” Becca opened the
back door and slid out.

Jake glanced at Cole once more before pushing his door open.
He approached their commanding officer and the suits, nodding to each
respectfully.

“What’s going on?” Cole asked, taking the lead.

O’Neil’s gaze flicked between them. “Tanya called an hour
and a half ago—”

“What’s wrong?” The panicked note in Cole’s voice was loud
and clear. Ever since the terrorist attacks during the Olympics he’d become
very protective of his wife.

“Tanya is fine.” O’Neil’s gaze darted to Jake and his
stomach sank. “She said Nicole is missing. Patrol has searched the house and
area.”

Jake stared at O’Neil for a moment, his jaw hanging open.

Nicole was gone?

He shook his head, snapping into cop mode.

“Someone has been leaving her presents. I didn’t know about
it until this morning. We’ve been having—problems. She confused the presents
with things I’ve left her. I followed her all day to try to figure out who it
might be, but didn’t see anyone.” Why hadn’t he seen it earlier? He’d failed
her.

“We’re already looking for her, Vant. We’ve got patrol
combing the area and canvassing the neighbors. Someone has to have seen
something.”

“I need to see the house.” If anyone could pick out
something out of place, it was him.

“That’s what we were thinking.” O’Neil gestured to the men
on either side of him. “You’ve met internal affairs before. They’ll be
assisting. Let’s reconvene at your house. And, Vant?”

“Yes sir?”

“I’m sorry.”

Jake nodded and turned toward his truck, which had been left
at the staging area.

“Hey, man.” Cole grabbed his elbow. “Do you want me to drive
you?”

“No, I need to go over everything in my head without
distractions. I’ll see you there.” He shed his gear as he went, and stashed it
in the back of the SUV.

All around him the word spread that his wife was missing.
Officers cast him sideways glances, pitying looks he didn’t fucking need.

Nicole needed him again and he hadn’t been there for her.

Jake pulled out of the neighborhood and onto the main drag
headed back toward the highway. He wanted to turn on the lights and floor it,
but Nicole wasn’t at the house. She was gone.

Who would take her?

His phone rang on his hip. He didn’t look at the screen,
just pressed the phone to his ear.

“Vant.”

“So nice to talk to you again, Officer.”

The voice on the other end was slick, oily and turned Jake’s
stomach.

“Who is this?” Jake asked as he turned his flashers on and
pulled over to the side of the road. Two other vehicles slowed and stopped
behind him.

“Oh come on, you know by now who this is. Think, Officer
Vant. You’re a smart man.”

Jake glanced in his rearview mirror. Cole jogged up to the
driver’s side door and stopped, a quizzical expression in his face.

“I’m not sure. Refresh my memory.” Jake pointed to the phone
and mouthed
Diego Cruz
.

Cole’s brows drew down into a line, but he nodded and
sprinted to the rear vehicle. Jake would have to trust they could figure out
tracing the call, if they even understood that was what he wanted.